What is です?

And why are there so many ways to say more or less the same thing as です in Japanese?

I remember when I first started learning Japanese, one thing that baffled me was all the different ways to say something that, in English, gets translated to: “is,” “are,” “There is/are,” and “Yes.” Most curious of all was this word we so often hear in Japanese, “です.”

Later I learned many equivalents to です. Some are rarely used in speech or old, and some are commonly used, but you may not know at first that they are related to です at all.

Let’s start with the most similar ones...

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～だ

彼はアメリカ人です。
かれ　は　アメリカじん　です。
He is (an) American.

彼はアメリカ人だ。
かれ　は　アメリカじん　だ。
He is (an) American.

As you may already know, the だ form, often called the plain form or dictionary form, can be interpreted in two ways:

1) Informal speech among friends, or superiors speaking to inferiors
2) The dictionary form used most for embedded sentences

*An embedded sentence might be:

彼は日本人だと思います。
かれ　は　にほじん　だ　と　おもいます。
"He is Japanese + I think."
→ I believe [think/suppose] he is Japanese.
Literally: "He + は + Japanese (person) + is + と + think.

彼は韓国人だと言いました。
かれ　は　かんこくじん　だ　と　いいました。
"He is Korean + he said."
→ He said that he is Korean.
Literally: "He + は + Korean + is + と + said."

The embedded part is all the words up to と思います （と おもいます）or と言います （と いいます）. Thus, the だ functions just as ですwould.

Some people ask if you can say:

彼は日本人ですと思います。
かれ　は　にほんじん　です　と　おもいます。

Technically, yes, you could in theory, but it is extremely strange, and if you wrote it on a quiz in a Japanese class, I bet the average Japanese teacher would mark it wrong.

Typically, as long as a sentence ends in the です or ます-form, baring any intentional vulgar vernacular, the whole idea will usually be seen as polite.

I always wondered why Japanese text books tend to teach the 丁寧語（ていねいご） form （です、ます） first and the dictionary form later. The dictionary form can be used on its own in casual speech, plus it is necessary for embedded sentences. But for some reason, textbooks teach the polite form first.

If I had to re-learn Japanese, I would learn the dictionary form first and then the various polite forms:

丁寧語（ていねいご // polite language）
謙譲語（けんじょうご // humble language）
尊敬語（そんけいご // honorific language）

...which is just how natives learn.

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～である, であります

彼は日本人です。
➡　彼は日本人である。
かれ　は　にほんじん　です
➡　かれ　は　にほんじん　である。
He is Japanese.
Literally, Line #1: "He + は + Japanese (person) + です."
Literally, Line #2: "He + は + Japanese (person) + である."
Note: Though the Japanese is different, the English translation is the same.

Have you ever wondered why to negate です you use ではない? I used to.

When you get the connection, you will see why.

である is used a lot in newspapers, reports, and other formal types of writing like thesis papers, or 論文（ろんぶん）. If you use this while talking, two things will happen:

(1) People will think you are weird, but (2) they will also think you are very smart and read lots of books.

Tip: Use である when speaking and trying to sound extra serious. People will love it (and maybe laugh at you).

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～で（は）ない、で（は）ありません

彼は中国人ではなく、日本人です。
かれ　は　ちゅうごくじん　ではなく、　にほんじん　です。
He isn’t Chinese. He is Japanese.
Literally: "He + は + Chinese + is not (=ではなく), + Japanese + is (=です).

The above ではなく is just ではない in the て form.

Often we omit the て at the end.

Also, the は in ではない can be omitted in speech, too.

ない is the negation of ある. Or at least they are logically opposed to one another. Literally, “have not” vs. “have.”

So ではない is just the shorter version of ではありません.

Technically 有る or 在る （ある） mean "to be" or "to have" and are completely different words than 無い（ない）, "to not be; to not have." But they are used in this grammar interchangeably to show affirmation or negation of whatever is being had/existing.

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～でござる、でございます

A: これは何ですか？
これ　は　なん　です　か。
“This is what?” “What is this?”
Literally: "This+ は + what + ですか."

B: それは昆布でございます。
それ　は　こんぶ でございます。
“That is kelp//sea weed.”
Literally: "That near you+ は + Kombu//kelp//sea weed + でございます."
Note: Kombu is a kind of kelp eaten by itself in Japan often or added into soups and other dishes. It is a thick kind of sea weed and is full of iodine. Health + Delicious.

私はイタリア人でございます。
わたくし　は　イタリアじん　でございます。
I am (an) Italian (person).
Literally: "I + は + Italian + でございます."

すみません、こちらは入り口ではありません[➡ではございません]。
すみません、　こちら　は　いりぐち　では　ありません[➡では　ございません]。
Pardon. This is not the entrance.
Literally: "Pardon + this + は + entrance + では ありません/ございません.
Note: Remember, ござる is more humble than ある so you can use it for business.

Since we are speaking in humble form, it would be more appropriate to pair ございます with わたくし instead of わたし even though both words utilize the exact same kanji, 私. The two words mean the exact same thing in English, but in Japanese, the nuance for わたくし is much more humble. You could use it at very formal business meetings and the like. There are a few phrases that pair with わたくし though.

私事
わたくしごと
My personal issues/stuff.
Note: For other uses, this kanji-combo will sometimes be read as しじ.

私事でございますが、この間入籍致しました。
わたくしごと でございます が、 この　あいだ　にゅうせき　いたしました。
About me/ my personal affairs, I recently have entered into a (new) family registry//I recently have gotten married.
Literally: "My personal stuff + でございます + recently + register in a family registry + いたしました (did humble)"
Note: 入籍する（にゅうせきする）= Register in an official family registry = Get married.

*This is reserved again for formal occasions or writing.

Ever wonder where the ございます comes from in ありがとうございます? Yea. ござる is different verb entirely but the meaning is equivalent to ある. So it means "to exist." But by virtue of it being more rarely used or for whatever reason, it is considered part of humble Japanese ((i.e., 謙譲語(けんじょうご)) and is thus more polite to say. So we can swap it in and out with ある. It isn’t always natural to do this since Japanese is a language and not a mathematical formula, but usually it works out the same.

So,　私(わたし)はドイツ人(どいつじん)であります (I am German) is technically right – though no one would ever say this. Usually people would say　でございます、でございません to negate or simply です、ではない・ではありません。I have found であります is rarely if ever used. である is almost exclusively used in writing.

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～ じゃ、じゃない、じゃありません

私たちは中国人じゃありません。
わたしたち　は　ちゅうごくじん　じゃ　ありません。
We are not Chinese (people).

彼女はフランス人じゃない。
かのじょ　は　フランスじん　じゃ　ない。
She is not French/She is not a French person.

Note also that じゃ is often used interchangeably with では as the less formal version. Another usage of the two other than to affirm the existence of things like です is to compare two or more places:

アメリカでは車がよく使われますが、日本では電車がよく使われます。
➡アメリカじゃ車がよく使われますが、日本じゃ電車がよく使われます。
アメリカ　（では・じゃ）　くるま　が　よく　つかわれますが、　にほん　（では・じゃ）　でんしゃ　が　よく　つかわれます。
Cars are often used in the US. Whereas in Japan, trains are often used.

*The difference between the adverbs, よく and たいてい is one of degree, but not much. The former would be of a slightly higher frequency than the latter, but for the purpose of this sentence, the degree of the two is not the focus, but rather that each one meaning something like “usually, often” are being used to compare the US and Japan. We can attack the difference between these two later.

Additionally, it is important to note that the reason for the comparative nuance is the fact that two は’s are used to denote two different subjects. は we can cover in another lesson but one of its functions is to compare two or more things.

僕は寿司は好きだけど、焼き鳥は好きじゃありません。
ぼく　は　すし　は　すき　だけど、　やきとり　は　すき　じゃ　ありません。
I like sushi, but I don't like yakitori.

(there that じゃある is again ). Yakitori is a kind of grilled chicken on a stick...delish. Don’t know what that guy’s problem is, but anyhow, the first は is simply used to announce he is the subject. The second and third は are used to compare the sushi and yakitori and show one having the opposite quality as the other.

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～でしょう、でしょ、だろう、だろ、であろう

日本語を専攻してるなら、日本語ペラペラでしょう？
にほんご　を　せんこう　してる　なら、　にほんご　ペラペラ　でしょう？
If your major is Japanese, then you must be fluent, right?

明日は晴れるでしょう。
あした　は　はれる　でしょう。
There will be clear skies tomorrow.

この靴かわいいでしょ？
この　くつ　かわいい　でしょ？
These shoes are cute right?

Although she is asking a question, it is clear by the way she is using でしょ she is basically affirming that the shoes are cute and that they match her. But the questions suggest she does want to hear some kind of response. Just say something like そうだね . Or you could affirm the words she uses like:

かわい～！超似合ってる！
かわい～！　ちょう　にあってる！
They're so cute! They look so good on you.

If a man said the above, it would be more like:

この靴かっこいいだろ？
この　くつ　かっこいい　だろ？
These shoes are cool, huh?

Then...

かっこいい！似合ってるね。
かっこいい！　にあってる　ね。
Cool! They look good on you.

We won’t get into all the differences between the male and female speech here (you could write a whole book on just that alone!) but for now, note that the equivalent phrase you may have learned to でしょう and でしょ are だろう and だろ respectively.

I used to wonder how these could be equivalents when they look nothing alike. Now that I see the ある connection, it makes sense. であろう, だろう. If you speak Japanese really fast or slur a lot, で can easily become だ, so that's basically what happened there.

では、よろしく！

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This lesson was written by Martin, a guest contributor. Martin does Japanese translation and interpretation. He also blogs on www.mib-lte.com and co-authors a blog about Japan called Live Work Play Japan.